Chapter Text
When Julie and Luke sit her parents down for a conversation, Ray and Rose are, admittedly, a little bit panicked. Their teenage daughter and her boyfriend asking to talk to them could mean any number of things, but their minds instantly go to ‘Julie’s pregnant’ and that is not something they want to deal with.
The actual matter being brought to the table, though, surprises her parents. Julie passes over a printout from… the Los Angeles County Clerk’s website? What stands out most to them on the page, though, is the heading, ‘Marriage License Under 18 Years of Age.’
“No,” Ray says firmly.
“But, Papí, it’s important!”
“No, Julie. Absolutely not. You’re sixteen! You cannot get married. Do you understand me?”
Julie sighs, turning towards Luke. She cups his face in her hands and looks him in the eye. “I’m sorry, Luke. I know this was our best idea, but I’m still gonna be there for you, okay?”
Luke nods. “Thank you for trying. I knew it was a long shot, anyway.”
Rose frowns. This looks like it’s about more than teenage infatuation. “Mija? Why is this so important?”
Julie bites her lip. “Can I tell them?” She asks Luke.
“Yeah.”
Julie assesses Luke’s slumped posture and lack of eye contact and promptly stands up, wiggling her way into his arms, settling back down onto his lap. “You’re going to be okay.” She pecks a soft kiss to his lips, then turns her attention back to her parents. “We wanted to get married so that Luke could move in with me. Things at his house… it’s not good. His parents are- they don’t understand him and they act like he can’t do anything right. They’re manipulative and verbally abusive and- and- and they don’t let him play his guitar!”
Ray focuses on the ‘verbally abusive’ part, as most people would, but Rose explodes in fury. “They don’t let you play your guitar!?” She turns to her husband. “We have to get him out of there, Ray. Not letting Luke play his guitar.” She huffs, disgusted by the notion. “Why, they might as well have chopped off a limb, right, mijo?”
Luke nods. “You get it!”
“I told you she would,” Julie reminds her boyfriend, who looks cautiously hopeful.
Ray and Rose exchange a look. “You two still can’t get married,” Ray begins.
“But we do have a guest room,” Rose finishes the thought.
Julie brightens. “Luke, you hear that? You don’t ever have to go back!”
“We, uh, we didn’t say that,” Ray says.
Luke folds in on himself and Julie levels a harsh glare at her parents.
“Hear him out, mijos,” Rose interjects before Julie can start yelling.
“Luke can stay here, but we do have to go talk to his parents. And I assume there’s stuff you want to get?”
Julie relaxes, but Luke is still tense, so she shifts on his lap, carding her fingers through his hair. “What’s wrong? You can stay here, Luke. Why are you still so tense?”
Luke sighs. “They’re really good at manipulation. They’ll convince your parents that I’m just difficult and that they’re actually good parents and that I shouldn’t leave.”
“Luke, we promise you that if you want to move into our guest bedroom, you can. We want you to be happy, healthy, and safe, mijo,” Ray says. “If you don’t think that you can be those things at your parents' house, then that’s the opinion that matters to us. We don’t care what your parents think about the way they treat you: they’re hurting you and that’s a problem. We’ll help you get out if that’s what you want.”
“Thank you,” Luke says softly.
Ray just nods, but Rose jumps to her feet. “How do you feel about blue?”
Luke frowns, confused by the non-sequitur. “What?”
Julie smiles. “I think Mami’s planning to redecorate the guest room for you.”
Rose nods. “Yeah. How do you feel about blue for the walls?”
Luke starts crying. Julie wraps herself around him as closely as she can, murmuring soothing words to him. He hugs her against his chest, stifling his sobs in her neck. Julie runs her hands up and down his arms, trying to calm him with her touch. Eventually, the tears stop and Luke lifts his head.
“Thank you.”
Ray and Rose agree to wait until the next day to meet with Mitch and Emily, able to tell that Luke needs a night away to build up the courage. Rose puts new sheets on the guest bed before everyone goes to sleep that night.
Around three in the morning, though, the house is awoken by the sound of Luke screaming. Ray, Rose, and Julie rush to the guest room to check on him and are heartbroken by what they find. Luke is curled up in a ball on the bed, pleading with his parents in his sleep.
“Don’t take my guitar. Just listen to me! Please, I’m trying! Listen to me, please . Don’t- don’t take it!”
Julie immediately shakes Luke awake and forces her way into his arms. He buries his face in her neck, sobbing. Julie murmurs quiet words of comfort as she rubs his back, trying her best to soothe his distress.
Ray and Rose watch from the doorway as their daughter calms her boyfriend with a level of practiced skill and determination that can only come from the obvious love that they share. The kids still can’t get married, but the scene they witness redoubles their resolve to get Luke out of his house. Luke has clearly needed this comfort before and they are unwilling to let him go back to the environment that put him in this space mentally.
They exchange a look, silently reminding each other of the vow they took with each other when they’d first had Julie. Their home, they had decided, would always be a safe space for any of their kids’ friends that needed it. They would never give any child (theirs or anyone else’s) any reason to feel unsafe or like they couldn’t be themselves in the Molina house.